Penn State’s 3-0 weekend performance, sweeping Temple on Friday evening, trouncing St. Francis Saturday morning, and sweeping Temple again Saturday evening, was greeted by a collective yawn from women’s volleyball fans around the country (OK, 3813 Penn State fans in Rec Hall enjoyed the Nittany Lions’ 3-0 victory — Video Highlights Here — as did PSU fans watching on the Big Ten Network’s online video feed, but we suspect the rest of the country was less enthusiastic).
Still, all that rolling of eyes at Penn State’s schedule probably beats the collective gnashing of teeth in Ann Arbor after Oregon State swept the Wolverines (27-25, 25-22, 25-23), at Crisler Arena.
So, what does Penn State Head Coach Russ Rose think about the preseason and his 2009 team?
“When I look at the preseason, I think I know more than I knew at the start of the preseason,” Rose told Bill Landis, in an article posted today on thedailycollegianonline. “I think if we would’ve played the strong preseason schedule that people want us to play, that I would maybe know a little bit more, but I’m not sure that that’s all of what I have to do.” Rose conceded the team is “making progress,” but indicated that it’s not “rapid progress right now.”
Coach Rose, the Penn State team, and fans across the country will get a better read on the Nittany Lions soon enough, as the Big Ten regular season starts (for Penn State) this Friday, when the Nittany Lions travel to Evanston, IL. to take on Northwestern (9-3, with a six match winning streak) in (Welsh-Ryan Arena), followed by a trip to Champaign for a match Saturday evening against Illinois (8-1) in (Huff Hall). The Illinois match will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
The Illini will be hoping to duplicate their feat from Sept. 12, 2004 in Huff Hall, when Illinois defeated then-#1 (and two time defending NCAA Champion), USC. Here’s a video of the celebration after that match:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN4VewX7t30[/youtube]
Here are links to the Big Ten Women’s Volleyball Team Statistics (Overall) and Individual Statistics (Overall) for the 2009 season (you can access these and more statistics from the toolbar, above). Below are the team leaders in Hitting Percentage, Opponents’ Hitting Percentage, Blocks, and Service Aces:
Big Ten Overall Statistics
Team Hitting %
1. PSU .448
2. MSU .310
3. OSU .301
4. Mich. .286
Opponents Hitting %
1. PSU .043
2. NU .116
3. OSU .128
4. MN .138
Blocks/Set
1. MN 2.89
2. PSU 2.86
3. IND 2.72
4. NU 2.69
Service Aces/Set
1. MI 2.02
2. OSU 1.94
3. PSU 1.83
4. IND 1.40